>> rick: breaking news on the russia investigation with house intelligence committee chairman devin nunes calling out the f.b.i. and doj. accusing both agencies of failing to completely hand over records concerning the anti-trump dossier as required by a subpoena issued last august. nunes is setting a deadline of january 3 to fully comply. more on this later in the show. but first president donald trump opening up about the russia investigation in a wide ranging interview calling it meritless but saying he believes special counsel robert mueller will be fair.

good morning, i'm rick leventhal on this last friday of 2017. >> we'll ring in the new year together. good morning. president trump railing against north korea and china in a "new york times" interview. the president sounding off in the special counsel investigation and indicating he has faith in robert mueller and the outcome saying let's just say i think that bob mueller will be fair and everybody knows that there was no collusion. rich edson is traveling with the president live in west palm beach, florida. hi, rich. >> good morning, julie. he brought up that investigation and denied that there was any collusion between his campaign and the russian government during the 2016 election. did so about a dozen times in a 30-minute interview. he also then asked about former secretary of state hillary clinton and her deleted emails saying what i've done, i have absolute right to do. what i want to do with the justice department. but for the purposes of hopefully thinking i'm going to

be treated fairly, i've stayed uninvolved with this particular matter. the president also claimed that democrats could have gotten a better deal in the tax law had they engaged in negotiating. he is prompting democrats to work with republicans moving forward to try to get deals on a number of other items. he said we could make a great healthcare plan. not obamacare, a bad plan. we can make a great healthcare plan through bipartisanship and great infrastructure plan and immigration and daca in particular, we can do something terrific through bipartisanship. he turned to international matters talking about china and north korea saying that china has been helpful on north korea but that it can and should do more. he said, quote, if they don't help us with north korea, then i do what i've always said i want to do. he said he has been soft on china when it comes to the u.s./chinese trade relationship because he has been getting help on north korea. if he doesn't get help on north korea, that will change, julie.

>> julie: he also treated on the record cold. the rest of us have to worry about that. >> is it cold? >> julie: you aren't wearing a coat. >> it is a little warm in this one. he did talk about the cold and brought it all back to climate change and climate change policies. this was a tweet he says. in the east it could be the coldest new year's eve on record. perhaps we could use a little bit of that global warming that our country, but not other countries, was going to pay trillions of dollars to protect against. bundle up. scientists have responded saying as the earth has been warming, it will do so unevenly. for the record, it will be 76 degrees here according to my apple app. then he talked about amazon. it has been a busy 24 hours on twitter. he says why is the united states post office using millions of dollars and charging amazon and others so

little making amazon richer and the post office dumber and poorer. should be charging more. the president has been very busy over the past 24 hours. interview with "the new york times" on twitter. still waiting to see what he is up to today. >> julie: you had to throw that temperature in our faces. thanks, rich, appreciate it. >> rick: that was bold. joining us now for more on this not the weather, but the story itself, tim carney, editor at the washington examiner. good morning, tim. >> good morning. >> rick: the president has been consistent on mueller and russia. no collusion, he says and believes he will be treated fairly and eventually vindicated. what is your sense of this? >> well, that again he has been saying throughout there has been no collusion. there are lots of parts of the story that has changed not necessarily from the president

as much as from, you know, sons, sons-in-law another associates. no meetings with russia and turns out there were meetings with russia. that has cast a shadow. the fact they were changing stories early on really fueled the idea that there was some sort of collusion but as you take a step back and look at it, there has really been nothing established there. what they've gotten is that you had paul manafort accused of not paying all his taxes, of not filing registrations for the lobbying he was doing on parts of others. you have other charges indirectly related for michael flynn. the core charge of collusion with russia, we haven't seen the there there yet and that has been trump's consistent defense there. the sort of peacemaking things that mueller will be fair, i think that's smart and i agree with him and i think that's an accurate statement about mueller. >> rick: do you think his critics were expecting more by now? >> oh yeah. there was just a blog on this

later at the washington examiner. one pollster looked into what was the biggest story of the year that people were tweeting about, facebooking, sharing, reading about, and the liberal base half of the year it was russia investigation. they really wanted some sort of collusion. they wanted an email during the campaign where trump emails putin and says let's work together to defeat hillary clinton and then they want impeachment. that has been the desire of so much of the left and it has been said by a lot of democratic politicians. and so far it's looking like they will be disappointed. >> rick: the president took it a step further. he said this was a meritless investigation and ruse by democrats, an excuse for losing an election. >> the idea the investigation should happen, that's one where i would disagree with the president. i think it's good because there has been stuff involving michael flynn and paul manafort acting as foreign agents

allegedly in ways that could have violated the law. that's the sort of investigation that i think should go on and that a special prosecutor holding accountable the people in power is a proper use of the law. trump has been really upset about this because he thinks it is a distraction. i don't think it has cost him politically. if it comes out where mueller, who is widely praised as independent, doesn't end up establishing something it both will help trump politically but in a broader sense help the country say okay, that worry about russia collusion is behind us. >> rick: he does say, the president, that this makes the country look very bad. and it should make his opponents look bad if, in fact, they don't find anything. >> yeah, again here i would disagree with the president. i think the fact that we have a rule of law that we hold the highest -- the person in the highest office of the land to the same standards that we hold everybody else, these things that people can say weaken our

country. checks and balances make donald trump weaker than vladimir putin or central american president and trump could complain that makes us look weak or bad. i think that's what makes america strong is our rule of law and checks and balances. so i'll disagree with trump on that. it makes us look good, strong and free. >> rick: a couple other headlines that came out of the interview. the president praised eric holder for his loyalty to president obama and some saw that as a somewhat veiled shot at his own attorney general, jeff sessions. >> it was really an odd statement because the one position in the cabinet where you don't want just loyalty to the president should be law enforcement. we need the president to be subject to law enforcement, not just in charge of it. and that eric holder and obama described each other at wing men at one point. that wasn't the best point of the obama administration.

that was a bad aspect of the obama administration. he had an attorney general who was so close to him and so when there were investigations like fast and furious there couldn't be full confidence. jeff sessions has been a little independent and it led to mueller's appointment that's a positive aspect. trump doesn't see it as positive because it gives him a headache. >> rick: for now we'll leave that interview here. thank you for being with us. >> julie: fox news alert. tragic story here in new york city. 12 people are dead including a 1-year-old girl after a fire spread through an apartment building complex in the bronx. the mayor calling this one of the worst fires in the city's history. >> this is the worst fire tragedy we have seen in this city in at least a quarter century based on the

information we have now. this will rank as one of the worst losses of life to a fire in many, many years. >> julie: 12 people in all killed. four of them children. david lee miller here live in new york city. david. what made this fire so deadly? >> it appears there were a number of different factors that made the fire so lethal. the 100-year-old building was not fireproof. natural gas line fed the blaze and the main escape route a central stairway was engulfed in flames. firefighters were working in subzero temperatures. among the 12 dead, 4 children including one who was a year old. four other people were critically injured. a dozen people were rescued. those there last night said the five-story walkup became an inferno. >> they were trying to get down. that's how fast it spread. >> screaming and how we knew there was trouble.

>> a bunch of smoke and that's it. >> it was the most deadly fire in new york city in more of a quarter century. hold your families close and keep these families in the bronx in your prayers. >> julie: any indication as to what exactly caused the fire? >> at this time it's too early to tell about a possible cause. fire marshals are investigating and in about one more hour we expect to learn more when officials hold a news conference. we do know firefighters were on the scene in three minutes, 170 were called to the blaze. the fire commissioner said it began on a lower floor and engulfed the entire building. >> the fire started on the first floor, spread into upstairs into the five story buildings with 25 apartments. people died on various floors of the apartment. >> a child who died was reportedly found in the arms of his mother. they had been seeking refuge

inside a bathtub. both perished. >> julie: just devastating. our prayers and thoughts for all of those families. thank you so much, rick. >> rick: final preparations are happening for the biggest new year's eve party in the world. it could be one of the coldest in decades. we're live from time square with an update on just how cold it is. >> julie: very cold. i'll tell you that. china reportedly selling oil illegally to north korea. what does it mean as the u.s. tries to crack down on the north's nuclear program? >> the justice department under fire. republicans blasting rob rosenstein accusing the department of not fully cooperating with the investigation into the anti-trump dossier. >> when you sit back and look at what has happened the lack of response. congress has a responsibility of oversight. they have been ignored and delayed. they have refused to send

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>> julie: a fox news alert on the russia investigation. house intelligence committee chairman devin nunes ripping the justice and f.b.i. for failing to hand over subpoenaed documents related to the anti-trump dossier in a blistering letter to rod rosenstein who he writes, i'm quoting. at this point it seems the doj and f.b.i. need to be investigating themselves. congressman trey gowdy also weighing in. >> investigations are only as good as your access to documents and witnesses. we need all of that so we can then prepare to interview, whether it's former general counsel baker, whether it is peter strzok, whether it's lisa page. we need to interview everyone who may have access to information and we need access to all the documents and frankly, jason, we've been waiting a long time for it.

>> julie: republican congressman matt gaetz of florida is a member of the judiciary committee. great to see you again. we know that you believe that mueller should be fired and your comments the other day regarding the fact that it seems as if he should almost get a mainstream media credential was interesting. now this trump dossier basically the delays from the subpoena that was issued back in august raises a lot of questions. >> yeah. bravo to chairman nunes for being doinged to pursue the facts here. the american people deserve to know whether their own money was used to pay russians to discredit the duly elected president of the united states. we have asked those questions and haven't gotten answers. we've subpoenaed records to get to the bottom of it and we're being treated by the jeff sessions justice department similar to the way we were

treated by the eric holder justice department. subpoenas ignored. witnesses not produced. we need better to have a transparency dossier included factual allegations about trump's connections with russia rest assured robert mueller would have his hands on that by now, right? >> absolutely. there is no doubt the f.b.i. has their hands on the dossier. the question is whether or not the f.b.i. actually colluded with the democratic national committee which we already know was involved in financially paying for the dossier and we need to know whether or not the f.b.i. used this dossier as an intelligence document to obtain warrants to spy on americans involved in the trump transition. if that happened it would be devastating blow to the intelligence community when certainly show the type of bias we've been arguing has existed throughout this investigation. >> julie: what's also concerning are the inconsistencies. nunes basically says of the doj initially claimed the documents didn't exist when they did and

were subpoenaed by the house intelligence committee investigating the russian interference in the 2016 election. who should be questioning the senior doj and f.b.i. officials? is anybody policing them? >> the house judiciary committee took testimony from andrew mccabe last week. within a couple of days with him providing that testimony he announced his retirement. other sworn depositions and statements taken of junior officials of the department of justice and f.b.i. not just over president trump on secretary clinton but the processes and institutions we have in place. because we never want to see this happen again. we never want to have a circumstance where there is not sufficient transparency and oversight into the things that are actually happening.

whether investigating the clinton foundation or the latest assertion of collusion that is meritless. >> julie: the subpoenas were back in august. four months later after, the f.b.i. and d.o.j. haven't provided the committee with the records. nunes is demanding all records and available dates for witnesses to testify to be provided to the committee by january 3. will the f.b.i. and d.o.j. comply and what happens if they don't? >> well, if the f.b.i. and the department of justice continue to ignore subpoenas and demands from those who are tasked with providing oversight congress can hold senior officials at justice and f.b.i. in contempt. we have contempt powers. i suspect we're nearing that point if we don't get access to the documents and witnesses that can shed light on whether or not the f.b.i. was colluding with the dnc to undermine our duly elected president. the next steps, the demand for people and records, if not contempt of congress. >> julie: thank you very much for your time. >> thank you. >> rick: a deadly attack at a place of worship rocking a christian community in the heart of egypt. >> julie: also president trump

with a stern warning to china. a demand to end alleged illegal oil shipments to north korea. >> for 25 years they have played the united states acting as though they are concerned and saying they don't want north korea to have nuclear weapons but not doing what they could do. the #1 doctor recommended probiotic brand. also in kids chewables. going somewhere? whoooo. here's some advice. tripadvisor now searches more... ...than 200 booking sites - to find the hotel you want and save you up to 30%. trust this bird's words. tripadvisor.

>> rick: the world of entertainment mourning the loss of a show business legend. rosemarie has died in van nuys, california. she was best known for her role at the dick van dyke show. that black bow in her hair became a signature feature. her career started at age 3 on

radio. she performed in movies, broadway and other tv shows. rosemarie, a show business legend, was 94 years old. >> julie: her passing reminds us of the others we lost this year. heroes and legends from all walks of life. we mourn their loss as well but also remember their indelible legacies. >> thank you for being here. ♪ >> golly, sure sounds like a lot of fun.

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>> rick: president trump warning china to stop any illegal oil sales to north korea after u.s. spy satellites observed chinese ships allegedly transferring oil to north korean ships more than 30 times since october. the president tweeting caught red-handed. very disappointed that china is allowing oil to go into north korea. there will never be a friendly solution to the north korea problem. if this continues to happen. former u.n. ambassador to the

u.n. john bolton says the evidence is clear. china is continuing to support north korea. >> the fire bell in the night. forget the u.n. security council resolutions, this is china directly propping up the north korean regime. not a sparrow falls in china regarding north korea that the authorities don't know about. this didn't happen by accident. >> rick: this is a key point. mark rockefeller former air force captain and ceo of street share. it sounds like the president had no idea this was going on. >> i don't think so. happy new year. great to be here. this is a dangerous and escalating situation here with north korea. north korea depends on china for trade and china has an interest in keeping the north korean regime at least stable and so it's a difficult situation which the entire u.n. community needs to come around and fix. it is a bit of a test, i think, for the trump doctrine as well.

the trump doctrine is we'll put u.s. needs first and at times that may conflict with international cooperation. in this case we certainly need the help of china and the international community to bring north korea to the table. >> rick: but mark, china promised the u.s. and the u.n. it would stop doing business with north korea. this was a key point. >> it's a difficult thing. if you're china, you have to keep the north korean regime up, right? if that destabilizes it is difficult for your country as well and it is a test for president trump and a test for ambassador haley at the u.n. to make sure they can work with the international community and get north korea to the negotiating table. >> rick: the whole point of the sanctions is to squeeze north korea to make times tough for them so that they have no choice but to give up their nuclear program and cooperate with the west. >> that is certainly the case. the chinese have denied that this occurred. the photos that you showed a little while ago was actually a ship that was flagged in hong

kong. it was seized by the south koreans recently. that seizure is a new authority granted by the u.n. i think something that may come in handy in the future as well. >> rick: what do you think the motivation was for the president's tweet calling out china? why did he do that? >> i think presidents in the past may have held a press conference and president trump goes right to twitter. it is his way of communicating directly with the american people and the international community in this case. trump has been very hard on china, appropriately so. i think trump wants to make sure that stance is not lightened. >> rick: i think it's amazing that satellites are capturing these kinds of images and in this case 30 times since october. why are we hearing about it now and why is apparently the president making this clear that china is apparently in violation now? >> not sure why it's just recently come up. the south korean authorities were the ones that reported this. they observed the u.s. spy

satellites observed chinese ships offloading oil to north korean ships in violation of u.n. sanctions. >> rick: you are looking at the pictures there now. pretty dramatic and pretty clear from space. the president talked about this in an interview with "the new york times" and he said, as far as this goes, that wasn't my deal. he said that china is hurting us very badly on trade but i have been soft on china because the only thing more important to me than trade is war. but when oil is going in i'm not happy about that. that's what he said. >> yeah. the entire world wants to avoid any sort of armed conflict here. to get this thing across the finish line we need international community support and the main supporter that we need here is china. so it's very difficult to deal with this situation. it is thorny, tough and a real test for the trump administration and for ambassador haley at the u.n. >> you mentioned that chinese

denial. they denied violating u.n. sanctions. maybe they were saying maybe we did it but we did it because it wasn't relevant. >> the latest quote i've seen the chinese are denying knowledge of it, right? not denying that it took place, right? so as you say, they are parsing their words very carefully. >> rick: how concerned should we be about this, mark? >> you know, the stability there on that peninsula is very, very important. we've seen lots of escalation and trouble coming out of their recently. we have defectors from the north to the south giving us more insight into what's going on. it is something we should be highly concerned about and we have to watch very carefully. again, a big test for the trump administration and ambassador haley at the u.n. >> rick: you say stability is important and you are sort of saying it's okay for china to give north korea oil because it helps them stay stable. >> no, what i mean by that is the regime, if it falls, needs to fall in a very control way, right? if it falls in an uncontrolled

way it causes problems for us, china and the whole international community. >> rick: we appreciate your time on this last friday of the year. >> happy new year. >> julie: at least 10 people have been killed after unidentified gunmen open erd fire outside a coptic christian church in egypt. greg palkot is live in london with the details. >> that's right. christians once again coming under attack in egypt. this time around the holiday period. two gunmen rode up in a motorcycle outside of a coptic christian church in a southern neighborhood of cairo. they had assault rifles, ammunition, maybe explosives. they opened fire in front of the church. police were on the spot, killed one and then chased down another and arrested him. among those killed were police plus worshippers, injured included women. there has been no claim so far of responsibility. at least one according to

authorities is a known jihadist. the egyptian branch of isis has claimed responsibility in the past for identical attacks. two people were also killed in a shoot-out in a christian-run store nearby, julie. >> julie: what is the security situation in egypt generally these days? >> well. this has to be very concerning to egyptian president. he makes counter terrorism a central plank in his administration's policy. president trump is a strong supporter of him and his measures. but, in fact, since he took power in 2013 and cracked down on opposition and dissidents, terrorism has just grown and grown in that country. regarding the christians, some 100 christians have been killed just in the past year. coptic christians are the biggest religious minority in egypt. 10% of the population. of these attacks, both on the christians and even on some

muslim. most have been claimed by this isis branch. plans had been getting ready for stepped up security for not just for new year's but the coptic christian christmas is on -- orthodox christmas is january 7th. you have to believe the security will be doubled up after this vicious attack just south of the main capital there in egypt. back to you. >> julie: greg palkot in london. thank you so much. >> rick: as we reported earlier president trump speaking out in a rare interview with "the new york times." what the president is now saying about the 2016 election and allegations of collusion with russia. >> julie: plus on the run from police and determined not to get caught. we'll tell you what motivated this guy next. liberty mutual saved us

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that freezing river. only took a couple hundred feet before he realized it was a bad idea. fishermen headrest -- rescued the man. >> julie: what was he thinking? i don't think criminals think. >> rick: they aren't the brightest bulbs. >> julie: the point of the story is. >> rick: he is being treated for hypothermia. there is a lesson for you going out to celebrate new year's eve. >> julie: don't drive your car into rivers. >> rick: and don't stand in time square for eight hours. i had no idea. >> julie: is that why you took the night off? >> rick: didn't know it would be this cold. >> julie: president trump giving an interview to the "new york times" opening up on several topics especially concerning the 2016 election and collusion with russia. in the piece the president saying quote, there is no collusion. and even if there was, it's not a crime.

but there is no collusion. let's bring in our panel. patrick griffin former media consultant to four republican presidential campaign and talk show host ben kissel. collusion is not itself a crime. there has to be a statute being violated. proof of obstruction of justice, which there is none. >> so far there is none. the democrats sole narrative has been one thing. there has been collusion and the president himself is involved in this. that's all they can talk about. and the fact of the matter is when you point to smoke a lot and yell fire you better hope there is some fire somewhere here. i'm not suggesting that there isn't something something here but it is very clear to me and it becomes clearer as interviews are completed and the mueller investigation goes on there may not be anything here. by the way, it didn't take "the new york times" interview for all of us to understand donald

trump didn't believe there was collusion here. he said it 16 times yesterday. he said it again and again and again. democrats are going to find probably there is nothing here and then what do they have to talk about? elizabeth warren, bernie sanders and hillary clinton, that's all they've got and nothing more. if this goes away, their single narrative that donald trump is not a legitimate president goes far away and they are without anything to sell. >> julie: by adding even if there was collusion it is not a crime, he also says there was tremendous collusion on behalf of the russians and democrats. there was no collusion with respect to my campaign. what do you think he is trying to send? what message trying to send to mueller by saying that ahead of the conclusion of his investigation? >> of course donald trump is trying to muddy the waters, as he does. the key words are there is no evidence yet. we just don't know where this investigation is going to go. and to some degree, donald trump is acting a little bit

like ted bundy here in the sense that he believes he is his own best defense attorney. i'm sure that is to the chagrin of his own defense attorneys. this is something classic for donald trump. he has pretended to be his own spokesperson in the past. he needs the media outlet. it is something he felt as if he had to sit down. he felt compelled to sit down and speak with "the new york times" to make his point proven. again, no evidence yet. if he gets in the way of this investigation, the cover-up will be the crime, not the crime itself. >> julie: i have to beg to differ whether he feels he is his own defense attorney. he likes to speak for himself but he relies heavily on his advisors and lawyers. a lot of the talk and speech that you hear from him is being told to him by his lawyers. so by coming out and saying collusion isn't a crime jay sekulow has said those words and getting advice from his lawyers. >> alan dershowitz is not his attorney. >> julie: he is getting it from

his personal attorneys that collusion is not a crime. a lot of lawyers have maintained from the get-go. those advising the president. that's true that collusion is not a crime. it all comes down to the obstruction of justice once again. ben. >> that's correct. if the collusion itself is not a crime, the getting -- the interference of the collusion investigation would be a crime. so there are a lot of -- >> there has got to first be, julie, proof of collusion. this is the greatest fiction so far that ben and the democrats who run around the country with their hair on fire hoping for collusion where none yet has been proven. at the end of the day here, the president has an opportunity -- and he said it very clearly -- i want this thing to get wound up for the sake of the country. i want to investigation to go forward and i've stayed out of it. the bottom line is robert mueller will do a good job and he said to the "new york times"

yesterday i think he will be fair. i hope he will be fair. it doesn't sound to me like a guy trying to stop anything. he said he won't fire robert mueller. i take him at his word. what is really critical here and this is important, as you get one russian nesting doll and uncover another we find out more about the democrats. podesta's emails. hillary clinton's emails. the dirty dossier. this is stuff the democrats should be careful about here. >> i'm happy the republican party is engaging in the notion that the f.b.i. might be bipartisan. if you want to believe the anti-left and going against the democrats you'll have to take them at their word when it comes to donald trump and the administration. >> except that the f.b.i. investigation, i have a lot of respect for robert mueller. most people on the hill do. the problem is, there have been bits and pieces of stuff giving donald trump what he needs to do what he is best at. to attempt to discredit some of

the investigators. not the whole f.b.i. i think that's wrong. >> julie: the attempt to discredit is obviously a smart move. that's what you do when you are defending yourself. and again he is getting those tips from his lawyers because that is what his lawyer is doing. >> we have the president of the united states attempting to discredit the f.b.i. >> julie: he is trying to discredit collusion saying it didn't happen for those who insist it did. ben kissel and patrick griffin. thank you. >> rick: you might have heard new york city is gearing up for its new year's eve party. what is city is warning folks to be ready for and brace for before the countdown. >> julie: apple saying that it is sorry for slowing down some of your iphones. what the tech giant is now offering to make up for it.

>> rick: time square gearing up for its massive new year's eve party. turnout is expected to be high despite the bitter cold. i don't believe it. i think the crowds will be half the size. brian will be there braving the elements and he is there now. how is it going, brian? >> good morning, rick, look, it going well. the nypd says there is no specific threat to time square and new york city new year's eve and this will be the most secure this event has ever been. >> an increase in heavy weapons. bomb squad personnel. radiological detection teams and over 1,000 cameras in and around the area of time square for the event. >> the extra security will

include the use of dogs that can sniff out bombs in the air or on people. everyone entering time square will be checked at least twice and there will be extra officers in every hotel overlooking time square. also be aviation units hovering over the big event. following just a couple weeks after the suicide bombing attempts in the subway system underneath time square so they have also released a new tactical bulletin updating officers what to look at when it comes to the threat to protect the people. there was a confetti test today. they dropped some confetti and going to drop confetti in time square. 3,000 pounds, three tons of con fet he will fall over people at midnight. 25 million pieces of confetti and thousands will have messages written by people what they wish for in 2018. >> rick: probably warmer weather. we're hearing despite the frigid temperatures people are still planning to stand outside and watch the ball drop. i don't think it will happen.

you are out there now and it will be even colder sunday night than it is now. how long before your skin starts to hurt? >> at some point you get numb. it will be 10° new year's eve night. we spoke to tourists whether or not they plan on standing out here. take a listen. >> i don't think this year it is safe to be out here in this temperature but hopefully they'll put warming stations up. >> you will be packed in here with so many people it is like all those penguins. they get all that heat mass going. i don't think it will be that bad. >> i think they're crazy and why we won't be here. >> no bathrooms or alcohol. some people will be out here for 12 plus hours. >> rick: including you. brian, keep the hat on. thanks very much. >> julie: president donald trump letting loose in a wide-ranging interview as he continues his holiday vacation in florida. the president blasting democrats, china, north korea

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for just $49.00. >> julie: a stand-off between congress and the justice department boiling over. house intelligence committee chairman devin nunes blasting the d.o.j. and f.b.i. for both withholding information related to the anti-trump dossier. welcome to a brand-new hour of "america's newsroom" and good morning to you. i'm julie banderas. >> rick: i'm rick leventhal. congressman nunes losing his patience. house majority leader kevin mccarthy saying he understands the growing frustration. >> when you sit back and you look at what has happened, the lack of response. congress has a responsibility of oversight. they have been ignored. they have been delayed.

they have refused to send people in to have hearings or to be questioned. and then when we look at the latest people being removed that are in centerpieces from investigating when it was hillary clinton or making decisions on what investigations should go forward. >> rick: kevin corke is live in washington what's at the heart of this complaint that was lodged by chairman nunes? >> in a word it is stonewalling or foot dragging. by any definition this is a refusal on the part of agency leadership of the d.o.j. and f.b.i. to respond to subpoenas. nunes expresses frustration for the leadership's failure to comply citing numerous requests for information and interviews related to the dossier which some have argued led to the surveillance of trump campaign

operatives and possibly the unmasking of american citizens and private communications and eventually the special counsel investigation. so finally in his letter first obtained exclusively by fox news thanks to my colleague john roberts the chairman said boldly at this point it seems the d.o.j. and f.b.i. need to be investigating themselves. quite the shot. as you can well imagine he is not alone. there are several other g.o.p. lawmakers making it clear that enough is enough. >> we need all of that so we can then prepare to interview, whether it's former general counsel baker, whether it is peter strzok, whether it's lisa page. we need to interview everyone who may have access to information and we need access to all the documents. frankly, jason, we've been waiting a long time for it. >> waiting a long time. you heard trey gowdy spell it out. they want to hear from james

baker, agents peter strzok and lisa page and a host of others. the list is long and unfortunately in terms of the carriage of justice a list that isn't getting any shorter any time soon. >> rick: what happens next? is there a deadline here? >> i want you to mark your calendar. january 3rd is the next deadline to produce documents and to schedule interviews. at this point there are other lawmakers on capitol hill who are wondering when and to what degree will attorney general jeff sessions finally step up his involvement. >> one of the things that has created a problem with jeff sessions' recusal is in getting responses. jeff has to well, i recuse myself on that area so i can't get involved in the response. but i think he is going to have to lay down the law that look, regardless of what the response is, get it to congress now. >> lay down the law.

there is no word on what the attorney general may have planned. however, it is still possible that a separate special counsel could at some point be appointed. we'll have to see if it comes to that, rick. >> rick: i think there might be developments on this over the next few days. thank you foring on that story for us. >> julie: the white house columnist for the hill and we are joined by him now. nunes says by failing to comply to fully produce documents the d.o.j. and f.b.i. should investigate themselves. what's being said about that? >> well, that is clearly a point of view that he is holding because he says they aren't cooperating sufficiently. the d.o.j. and f.b.i., their version of the story is that they have already produced hundreds of pages of classified documents and that there are genuine issues that have to be worked through before complying. for example, regarding as sources of intelligence who they don't want to reveal. >> julie: but he is basically saying that they are not fully

producing. so yes they've produced documents but haven't proud fully. in other words, not all of them. the subpoenas were in august. we're at the end of december. why the delays? >> well, i'm not here to speak for the department of justice or the f.b.i. these things are subject to negotiation. there already has been negotiations between those agencies and the committee. i'm not speaking or defending the position, either. it clearly is not a good look for those agencies to be accused of stonewalling. it is simply we don't know for certain. we know what each side is saying. we don't know what the objective is. >> julie: nunes says regarding all the delays and discrepancies. he says as a result of the numerous delays and discrepancies the committee no longer credits the representations made by d.o.j. or the f.b.i. regarding these

matters. nunes calls the initial response disingenuous at best. i understand in any investigation the prosecution never discloses the evidence until the end of an investigation. what is the d.o.j.'s reason for not adhering to a subpoena? >> i don't believe that the d.o.j.'s position is it is going to disobey the subpoena. i believe the d.o.j.'s position says it is working through that issue and will through a process of negotiation with the committee come to a point where they can decide what they can reveal and what they cannot. >> julie: nunes says the d.o.j. claimed the documents didn't exist when they did. when they were subpoenaed by the house intelligence committee in the 2016 election they came forward and said there weren't documents when we all know there were. >> yes, that's the strongest element in nunes's argument, the fact that these documents

were apparently withheld. look, it doesn't matter who you are or what the probe is, if you are revealed to have documents that you denied having, that's a problem. so clearly that is an issue and that's to my mind the stronger facet of his argument. >> julie: he is demanding all these records and available dates for witnesses to testify as we heard kevin corke talk about. he is requesting they be provided to the committee by january 3rd. if the f.b.i. and d.o.j. don't actually hold up to this they could be held in contempt. what is your belief of that actually happening? >> it would certainly be a ratcheting up of this ongoing battle between the congressman and the agencies he has threatened to bring that contempt charge against rod rosenstein and the head of the f.b.i. that would be a very dramatic move. there are criminal penalties for contempt of congress. it would be a clear intensification of this battle.

>> julie: niles, thank you very much. great to see you. >> rick: president trump letting loose in a year end interview with "the new york times" taking aim at nuclear north korea, china, the russia investigation, and democrats. the president saying quote, i can only tell you that there is absolutely no collusion. everybody knows it. and you know who knows it better than anybody? the democrats. they walk around blinking at each other. rich edson is live in a very warm west palm beach florida with more on this. rich. >> good morning. the president says he believes special counsel bob mueller will be fair to him because he says everyone knows there was no collusion between his campaign in 2016 and the russian government. this is a 30-minute interview with "the new york times." he hits on hillary clinton's deleted emails, the times asked him whether the department of justice should reopen its investigation into that matter. president trump said quote,

what i've done i have absolute right to do what i want to do with the justice department. but for purposes of hopefully thinking i'm going to be treated fairly i've stayed uninvolved with this particular matter. he also moved on to the congressional agenda claiming democrats could have gotten a better deal with republicans had they negotiated and engaged on the issue and tweeted and discussed daca, those brought to the united states illegally as children. he says the democrats aren't going to continue that daca policy to protect the dreamers if they don't agree to deal on the wall, on the southern border and end chain migration. he also talked about his own foreign policy knowledge, command of it. he says i know the details of taxes better than anybody. better than the greatest cpa. i know the details of healthcare better than most, better than most. if i didn't, i couldn't have talked all these people only to be rejected.

the president says he wants a trillion dollar infrastructure plan and urging democrats to work with republicans on the agenda in 2018. he meets with congressional leadership of republicans at camp david in january. >> rick: he talked about ships trading oil between china and north korea. >> this is a report that originated from south korea that china was circumventing u.n. security council resolutions and illegally providing energy to north korea. the president in this interview made the case that he has gone light on china because he has -- on the trade relationship because he has wanted china to act on north korea. in the interview he said, quote, that china on trade has ripped off this country more than any other element of the world in history has ripped off anything. but i can be different if they

are helping us with north korea. now china has denied it illegally provided energy to north korea. the secretary of state and president have both said china is helping on north korea but that china can do much, much more. >> rick: rich, thanks very much. >> julie: chaos in one city as a van crashes into a crowded sidewalk. what police are saying about the driver. >> rick: also the trump administration considering a naval blockade against north korea. how this could affect china. >> julie: new rules in the tax law kicking in on monday. why our next guest wants to make some of those changes permanent. >> the democrats in the senate could have made those tax cuts permanent instead of having to do the phase-out. but they actually objected. liberty mutual saved us

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>> julie: a shuttle van jumping the curb in seattle smashing into a group of pedestrians.

the driver suffered a medical emergency. six people taken to area hospitals including the driver. one person is in critical condition undergoing surgery. four others are in serious condition. the van driver suffering minor injuries. >> rick: big changes coming to the tax code on new year's day. only a handful of them are permanent. starting monday the standard deduction doubles, it will be $12,000 for single filers, $24,000 for couples. my next guest is planning to introduce a bill to make the changes permanent. rodney davis of illinois. thank you for being with us. >> thanks for having me on, rick. >> rick: democrats have slammed the tax bill saying it benefits the rich and hurts the middle class. what do you say to that? >> well clearly the statistics

don't show that. you look at the average amount of percentage of income that is going to be saved by families across the income spectrum. overwhelming majority of the higher percentage goes to middle and lower income families. i, too, believe that we need to make the individual rates permanent and the democrats in the senate could have done that but instead they chose not to because they wanted a political talking point. >> rick: so they could have but they didn't. that means these tax cuts could expire in 2025 and you are trying to stop it. >> yeah. we will introduce a bill to make them permanent. i hope that many of the democrats who talk about making them permanent will join me in supporting this legislation. we'll see. time will tell if that will be the case. but let's also remember the current tax code has many provisions that expire annually and we have to extend on a regular basis. it is a little disingenuous to see the rhetoric come out of washington

>> rick: you said no legislation is perfect but how did you make this better? >> well first off when you look at the overall bill it is a great bill for the american people. they will see more money in their pockets instead of sending it to uncle sam in washington, d.c. we doubled the standard deduction, $6,000 for an individual goes to $12,000. 12,000 to 24. doubled the child tax credit. you make more money before you actually pay taxes and we lowered the rates across the board. this is a good bill. but it needed to be fixed. in the house they were going to tax tuition waivers. this is a way that many students and their employers -- employees at universities use to reduce the amount of money they have to spend to invest in their kids' education. we fixed that in the conference committee. no one will be taxed on that. that's a way that we were able to make the bill better before it was signed into law. >> rick: i also read in your press release that this simplifies the tax code to the

point that 90% of americans can file on a postcard. i hadn't heard that before. is that true? >> it is. remember, in my district and in america as a whole 75% of all americans don't itemize right now and they can file a simplified tax form. i believe in my district you'll see 90 to 95% take the standard deduction and still be able to do a simple calculation to see whether or not the three most popular deductions, charitable, home mortgage interest deduction and property tax deduction will be better for them. right now they are only looking at the standard deduction in three or four cases and now many, many more people will be able to fill out their taxes in a matter of minutes. >> rick: the business tax cuts have gotten a lot of criticism but you feel they were and are important. why is that? >> we have to remain competitive globally, rick.

when we're paying a 35% tax rate here in this country it is companies in my district like adm and caterpillar that have to sell more products just to make up for the money that their competitors are saving because they've decided to invest their headquarters and operations in another country. you look at economists like steven moore. he is talking about sustained 4% economic growth. that's over double what we saw over the last eight years. that's going to be huge for growing our economy, putting people back to work and getting more wages in the pockets of middle class families. >> rick: you say yourself that you can't make a perfect bill. no one will agree on everything especially not in congress and we know democrats didn't play a role in this particular bill. you are still proud of it and think it's good for america? >> i truly do. i think you will see the economic growth that we've heard politicians talk about. but then implement policies that actually constrain the economy. we'll put more money in the

pockets of families. that's a good thing to do. that's why i came to congress. i didn't come to congress to send more money to washington, d.c., it is to make sure people can keep their hard-earned money and invest in their own families and what they want to spend their own money on. we need to make the individual tax rates permanent and i'm hoping that people like bernie sanders, who said they agree it needs to be permanent, will join me when my bill gets over to the senate. hopefully in the next month. >> rick: that would be a story. we look forward to covering it. thank you very much and happy new year to you and your family. >> happy new year to you, too, rick, thanks for having me on. >> julie: apple is issuing an apology. why they're sorry for their iphone slowing down and what they are offering you to make things right. >> rick: they're sorry, huh? a profitable year in the business world. the market setting record after record. we'll look back at 2017. for your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish,

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>> julie: ending on a positive note for the end of 2017. taking a look at the dow jones. now down 10 to 12 points averaging just under 25,000 but nonetheless definitely coming close to 25 ending on a very positive note as we've been watching the stock market doing quite well this year. as 2017 comes to a close it will be remembered as an eventful year in the business world. fox business anchor takes a look back. >> the economy and the stock market, 2017 was the year of the businessman turned president, donald trump. >> president trump: together we will make america strong again. we will make america wealthy again. we will make america proud again. we will make america safe again

and yes, together we will make america great again. >> his blunt speech on inauguration day setting the tone for a contentious year in politics but wildly successful year for much of the business and investing world. all the major stock indexes hitting records and shattering milestones along the way with $6 trillion in value added since his election. >> this is a very big day for your money. look at that. 24,000 on the dow. >> business leaders credit much of the run-up to the pro-business, pro-growth agenda of the trump administration. a roll back of obama-era regulations and he ends the year finalizing a tax overhaul and economic growth of 3% or better for two straight quarters. >> president trump: there is a tremendous enthusiasm for business in this country. so a lot of things have changed. >> there were setbacks for the white house as well. a thumbs down from john mccain

killing the gop promise to repeal and replace obamacare. but in the climate of less regulations and prospect of higher interests rates mega deals littered the landscape. broad come targeting quaul com. cvs trying to acquire aetna and at&t fighting the government trying to own time warner. the good and bad of technology was on display. artificial intelligence and robotics taking major leaps forward. hackers making their mark, too. a huge breach of the very power equifax was supposed to protect. 150 million americans data stolen prompting national outrage from congressional investigation. all in all a great year for technology as well. amazon and google, apple marking the 10th anniversary of the iphone. they have sold more than 1 1/4

billion iphones in the last decade. then there was a scandal decades in the making rocking nearly every industry in america, sexual harassment from the slew of high profile people to major media figures like matt lauer, bill o'rielly and charlie rose and boy's club culture in silicon valley taking down several executives. powerful men losing positions as the #me, too move gains steam. the year ends with a question everybody is asking, is bitcoin a bubble or the real deal? the currency exploded in 2017 starting the year at $1,000 and cracking the $20,000 range. where it goes from here will be a major story next year as we close out a remarkable business year in 2017. i'm maria bartiromo, fox business network.

>> they supply over 90% of north korea's oil and keep that regime in power. for 25 years they have played the united states acting as though they are concerned, saying they don't want north korea to have nuclear weapons but not doing what they could do. >> rick: is there more military action that could stop china or other nations from sending oil to north korea? >> julie: apple offering an apology to its customers and a bit of a discount. we'll tell you what's next. quit smoking. but when we brought our daughter home, that was it. now i have nicoderm cq. the nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release

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>> rick: south korea seizing a

chinese boat it says was illegally bringing oil to north korea in violation of u.n. sanctions. lucas tomlinson joins us now. what's the reaction from the pentagon on this? >> rick, defense secretary jim mattis stopped by the press area here a few minutes ago and said there would be more actions taken against north korea following this latest round of u.n. sanctions. quote, i think you'll see increased pressure. what form that pressure takes in terms of physical operations is something that will be determined by the governments. if the government finds there is a ship in their port with trade that is not permitted they have an obligations and nations have taken that obligation seriously. south korea says it seized a ship last month after performing an illegal ship to ship transfer of some 600 tons of oil prohibited by u.n. resolution passed in september. the vessel lighthouse wind more entered port in south korea october 11th to fill up with

oil. instead of heading to taiwan she rendezvoused with a north korean ship. president trump said this. i asked secretary mattis if these successful north korea missile tests this past year impressed him. mattis answered nothing impresses me. >> rick: we've heard denials from china on this point but the satellite photos at least are evidence that there was some involvement by the chinese here. >> rick, this vessel was a hong kong flaged and registered vessel. today beijing denied all involvement, quote, china has

never allowed chinese enterprises or individuals to defy u.n. resolutions imposed on north korea and any country can't control all the ships at sea. >> rick: i don't think we've heard the last of this. thanks very much, lucas. >> julie: president trump taking aim at the russia investigation saying it is without merit and telling "the new york times" what he thinks about the whole affair. in a rare interview he says it makes the country look very bad and puts the country in a bad position. the sooner it is worked out the better for the country. i have right to do what i want to do with the justice department but for purposes hopefully thinking i'll be treated fairly, i've stayed uninvolved with this particular matter. david hoppe is a former chief of staff for speaker of the

house paul ryan. capri, what do you make of president trump giving the failing "new york times" an interview, keep your friends close and enemies closer? >> i think maybe the mood just struck him down in palm beach. i think he was -- if i recall correctly, he was speaking to the "new york times" at the trump international golf course there in the palm beach area. so i think it was on his home turf and i think he had a captive audience and was feeling relaxed and comfortable and wanted to have an opportunity to tell his side of the story. >> julie: david, you have to give it to this president. he has been very accessible to the press even to the "new york times," the one newspaper i think he probably rips the most. you can't argue that he is not fully being transparent when it comes to giving these types of interviews. >> no, he has made no secret about who he likes and who he doesn't like but he has been open in talking to the press in

many different times. a different schedule than previous presidents but he has been between the twitter use and his own press conferences he gives on his way to the helicopter or this impromptu one yesterday he is available to the press that very few presidents before him have. >> julie: it could work hopefully to his benefit but capri, in august what to do with mueller, his attorney jay sekulow said the president wasn't thinking about firing robert mueller and speculation out there was incorrect. everybody loves to speculate the fact that the president wants to fire him. the president now saying that he thinks robert mueller will be fair. is that enough to finally silence all those who believe trump has his eye on firing mueller? >> i have think a few things here. number one i do take president trump at his word and have when he says he is not going to fire robert mueller. a lot of that stirring is pot is just to get people riled up. that being said, what he is saying is predicated on the fact that he believes that

robert mueller will treat him fairly. so if he doesn't treat him fairly then what happens? i will say this, there is a federal regulation cfr600.7d that basically was promulgated in 1999 in the wake of the clinton special counsel and that impeachment process which prohibits the president of the united states from actually firing a special counsel. in this context he could indirectly do it by canning rosenstein who is the acting attorney general in the context of this investigation but he can't actually fire mueller directly anyway. >> julie: he does have the right to, like you said, in a round about way the same as he did james comey. rod rosenstein appointed this special counsel. if the president is unhappy with his appointment he has a way of getting him out. he says for purposes of hopefully thinking i'll be treated fairly he is staying uninvolved. what do you believe is his

involvement in the first place, david? is he involved at all? his advisors are keeping him abreast. >> if you look at the situation with director comey, he fired director comey and things got worse. there is a reality here. the reality, this is not going away. it will not go away until it's completed. now, there has been no finding of collusion anyplace by anyone at this point. and that was the main thing that was being investigated. but the one thing that can't happen whether the president has the power or doesn't have the power is this will not go away until they've completed this investigation. now director -- former director mueller, the special counsel, does have a responsibility to be fair and to have a group of people who are fairly assessing what the president has done. and that's a responsibility he has. now, he is a man who has shown through his career a great

ability to be fair and above board in this but he is responsible for everybody he hires. >> julie: that's all the time we have. >> rick: apple admitted it was slowing down iphones with older batteries. the company announcing yesterday it is slashing the price of a battery replacement it says will restore older phones to their original capacity. we're in los angeles with more on this remarkable story. >> right, rick. it is not often we see apple in damage control mode. they're in it deep today posting a letter of apology for what it is calling a misunderstanding around its older iphones. apple rarely responds to press stories but said we know that some of you feel apple has let you down. we apologize. this comes after the tech giant's recent admission that it was slowing down older phones to compensate for

degrading batteries. some iphone owners have accused apple of intentionally slowing phones before the release of a new model. the company faces several lawsuits to that effect. apple is now trying to clarify what is going on saying the slow downs are intended to make sure users don't lose a call or can't take a picture. tech analysts say the optics don't look good. listen. >> this is a reminder to not just apple but everyone in technology that transparency is key. you need to be really out front and open with your core customer base. apple did not say that they were doing this. therefore, you hear wow, what, you a slowing my phone down? you want me to buy a new phone. >> julie: not true, says apple. which goes on in its statement to explain all rechargeable batteries are consumable components that become less effective as they chemically age and their ability to hold a charge diminishes. this consumer appreciates the explainer.

>> at left they are doing something about it and acknowledging that there is a problem and they're trying to remedy it. >> apple is also cutting the price of battery replacements by $50 in its ongoing effort to repair the public trust will not happen overnight. >> rick: they said they were sorry. >> i think they will have to do more than that. >> rick: thank you very much. >> julie: a california man accused of plotting a christmas day terror attack. what federal prosecutors say he planned to do. >> rick: plus looking ahead to next november. how democrats hope to take back control of congress in the mid-term elections. >> i think if the election were held today there are a lot of people that weren't engaged last year that are engaged. it is a long time between now and next november.

>> julie: a california man accused of plotting a christmas day terror attacked appeared in

court yesterday. he is being held without bail since his arrest 10 days ago. prosecutors say he embraced radical jihadi beliefs and hoped to attack san francisco's pier 39. they say he picked the spot because it would funnel people into a location where he could inflict the most casualties. >> rick: democrats will spend the better part of 2018 hoping to take back control of congress. do they have a plan that might lead them to victory? to answer that we bring in fox news contributor bernie goldberg. great to see you. i had the pleasure of reading your column on bernard goldberg.com where you say dripping with sarcasm that when democrats say one thing they mean the opposite. explain, please. >> well, first of all, the plan is, i think, to not cooperate with donald trump and the republicans on just about anything in 2018.

when rush limbaugh said, we remember this, i hope he fails right before barack obama took office, the democrats, certainly the progressives in the democratic party, which is a lot of them. they're more nuanced but they hope donald trump fails because in the world of partisan politics our team can't win unless your team loses. they need donald trump to lose and that's why i say i don't think they will help them in 2018 with legislation. the loyal opposition has become the resistance. i am not saying that the republicans would be any different. right now the democrats are the party of no. >> rick: the president said he believes the democrats will work with him on infrastructure. the president is saying that he believes in 2018 -- >> i've lost your audio. >> rick: maybe we should have bernie talk for the next four

minutes. oh well. it was a pretty clever article and i do encourage people to go to bernard goldberg.com and watch and read and i hope we get him back. >> julie: we'll work on that. it's the end of the year and there are always little elves and gremlins that work. the elves report back to santa, the gremlins come in and take over. this is what happens before the new year. like around the millennium. do you remember that everybody thought the world would end? i was actually frightened. >> rick: i was in time square and wondering if the world would end at midnight and it didn't. >> julie: we have bernie, though. >> rick: how about them apples, bernie? >> technology, wonderful. i lost you again. >> rick: this is awesome. this should be in the year ender. julie, we're back on a two shot. >> julie: we tried. we don't have bernie, that's it. >> rick: someone in the control room. >> julie: let's try to talk to

him in 2018. preparations in full swing in pasadena for the rose parade new year's day with more than a million people expected to line the route. what authorities are doing to keep everyone safe. we're live at the scene next.

>> nine minutes away we'll dive deep into the president's interview published this morning in the "new york times." the loyalty of attorney general jeff sessions, daca, wall and north korea. also have you heard the latest from facebook? the social media site dropping its fake news flags after research showed they made readers want to click even more. what facebook is offering instead. "happening now" at the top of the hour.

♪ >> rick: dreaming of ending the year on easy street. the mega millions in powerball lotteries are each worth more than $300 million with both drawings taking place this weekend. keep in mind two lotteries do not mean double the chance of winning. the odds of hitting the jackpot are one in more than 292 million but you have to be in it to win it. >> julie: can we even by lotto tickets in our areas? >> rick: at the new stand downstairs. >> julie: go there after the show. >> rick: if you win -- >> julie: i never play so then i can never win. i'm just saying. as most people complain about not winning but they don't play. you need to play to win. volunteers putting the final touches on their floats nor the rose parade on new year's day with more than a million people expected to line the route.

authorities are ramping up security and keeping a close eye on all the festivities including anita vogel who is live in california. hi, anita. >> good morning, julie. we're inside the warehouse where volunteers are busy constructing some of those amazing floats you see every year at the rose parade. you can see some of them behind me right now. over the course of the next hour volunteers, hundreds will be streaming in to finish putting the finishing touches on these floats. this is one of the biggest events going on around the country. each year on new year's day. as the volunteers are in here preparing the floats, outside law enforcement is busy preparing to keep the public safe. the rose parade draws more than a million people every year into the heart of pasadena. police acknowledge it is always a target for terrorists. this year they will be closing down roads along the parade route to car traffic at 10:00 p.m. on new year's eve. earlier than ever before. >> we have certain things in

place where something as simple as removing newspaper stands or creating water barriers to prevent vehicle incursions. >> security experts add police do the best they can but they can't be everywhere at once. >> law enforcement is limited with the amount of manpower they have. you can't take all 10,000 lapd officers and put them at the rose parade. they have to be all over l.a. >> they'll be watching closely over local landmarks including lax, one of the nation's most busy airports and a target of past terror attacks. but behind the scenes where volunteers are putting the finishing touches on the majestic floats, they are keeping their focus on making the parade picture perfect. >> we have the police come through and security come through, bomb sniffing dogs. it doesn't phase us. it's the tradition of the parade. that's the american spirit about coming and celebrating and being involved with this parade.

>> and one of the things that makes this parade so special are the use of fresh flowers. take a look at these fresh flowers. the volunteers will be taking these today and putting them on the floats over the course of today and tomorrow. this is a display of all different color carnations. you can see the floats over here are colorful but look bare now because they don't have the flowers on them. julie, right now there is no known credible threat against the parade so that's good news. but in addition to the local law enforcement authorities that will be here, federal authorities will also be here. we have the f.b.i., secret service and the department of homeland security that will be helping out. back to you. >> julie: all right, anita, thank you very much. the rose bowl. you know those roses would have frostbite on them if they were here. >> rick: georgia and oklahoma, who do you like? >> julie: don't ask me. i don't watch foot ball. is that soccer? don't ask. do not ask. that's the one subject i can't pretend to know anything about.

i know there is a football game coming up this weekend. >> rick: one of those two teams will win. >> julie: i'll go with georgia. >> rick: president trump sat down with the new "the new york times" for an extensive interview. the highlights are just a few minutes away.

>> julie: sadly, santa is sadly leaving town tonight as "else" the musical leaves town. i went to go see it last night, and i can seriously vouch for it as a fun family holiday show which actually keeps adults and children both interested. it is based on the movie, one of my children's favorites. it tells a hilarious tale of a buddy, a young orphan child who is mistakenly transported back to the north pole to discover that he is actually human because he is a huge compared to the rest of the elves. so he discovers his true identity in new york city, and

who doesn't love buddy the elf? one of my favorite scenes is when he picks the gum off of the subway, which santa specifically said do not eat the gum off of the sidewalk. all right, "happening now" now. >> jon: at those two have me wiping a tear off of my eye. president donald trump opening up about the russia investigation. good morning to you. i am jon scott. >> heather: and i am heather childress. happy new year in advance. >> jon: and happy new year to you as well. >> heather: in fact, in this "new york times" interview, demanding immigration reform, and a message to democrats. saying that